


Good Together

by OgdensOldFirewhiskey



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternative Perspective, Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Canon Compliant, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Missing Scene, Romance, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-07-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:07:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25402081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OgdensOldFirewhiskey/pseuds/OgdensOldFirewhiskey
Summary: Hermione thought she knew what Ron meant. She hadn’t quite known what to expect with Harry and Ginny’s new relationship, given how, frankly, tactless Harry had been with Cho. But the ease with which her two friends had sunk into their relationship in only a matter of days had appeased any worries she had that Harry might muck things up again. “I have noticed,” she answered. “They seem really good together.”Hermione observes Harry and Ginny's new relationship, and realizes that her friends feel something far deeper for one another than she'd realized. Missing moment from HBP, told from Hermione's perspective.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Comments: 19
Kudos: 197





	Good Together

“What do you think they’ve been doing all day?” asked Ron, turning to stare at the door to the Great Hall, as though expecting Harry and Ginny to walk through it momentarily. “I mean, they didn’t even bring their homework with them!”

Hermione refrained from rolling her eyes only with great difficulty. “I expect they’re getting to know each other.”

“They’ve already known each other for ages, what more have they got to learn?” Ron grumbled, stabbing his kipper as though it had done him some personal wrong.

“Ron, you’re happy for them, remember?” said Hermione exasperatedly.

“I am!” insisted Ron. “I’m glad they’ve… you know. I just thought they’d come to dinner, that’s all.”

Hermione frowned, realizing that perhaps this was less about Harry and Ginny being together and more about them being together without him. “It’s only been a week since they got together, I’m sure it’ll die down,” she said reassuringly.

Ron shrugged. “Maybe, but it’s not like it was with me and…” his ears turned red, “well, me and Lavender, is it?”

Hermione looked down at her plate. She kept telling herself she was over that particular situation, and should be perfectly capable of having a normal conversation about it. “I seem to remember that you and Lav-Lav spent a good amount of time together, too.”

If she didn’t keep all of the vitriol out of her voice, well, who could blame her?

Ron looked sufficiently sheepish as he continued, “Well, yeah, but… I dunno. Haven’t you noticed? With them, I mean? I dunno how to explain it.”

Hermione thought she knew what Ron meant. She hadn’t quite known what to expect with Harry and Ginny’s new relationship, given how, frankly, tactless Harry had been with Cho. But the ease with which her two friends had sunk into their relationship in only a matter of days had appeased any worries she had that Harry might muck things up again. “I have noticed,” she answered. “They seem really good together.”

“Yeah,” said Ron. “Like they’re going to be together for ages, or something. And I am happy, for both of them, really. It’s just…” He shrugged, gesturing to the empty spaces they had saved for Harry and Ginny next to them at the dinner table.

Hermione gazed at him. Every time she convinced herself that fancying Ronald Weasley was about the stupidest thing she’d ever done, he said something that made her fancy him all over again. “It’s going to be different,” she finished for him.

Ron’s ears were red again. “Yeah.”

“Well, we’ll just have to find a new normal then, won’t we?” she said kindly. As she glanced up, she saw Harry and Ginny walking through the doors, hand in hand. They were laughing, and Hermione thought their hair and clothes looked a bit ruffled. “Look, they’re here now!”

Ron twisted in his seat and waved them over. Harry and Ginny spotted them quickly and made their way to the Gryffindor table, squeezing into the space Ron had left next to each other.

“Cutting it close, aren’t you?” asked Ron, a bit grumpily. “You nearly missed dinner.”

“Sorry, mate,” replied Harry, piling his place with kippers and mashed potatoes. “Lost track of the time.”

Hermione thought she saw Ginny give Harry a sly grin as he said this, but she did not comment.

“Did you have a nice day?” she asked them. “It looked lovely outside.”

“Brilliant,” said Ginny happily. “We went for a bit of a fly, it was great Quidditch weather.”

“This one reckons she’s a better Seeker than me,” said Harry, pointing at Ginny with his thumb.

Ginny placed her hand on Harry’s arm comfortingly. “That’s not true!” She smirked. “I _know_ I’m a better Seeker than you.”

Harry pretended to look exasperated as Ron laughed appreciatively, but Hermione thought he looked well-chuffed. “Too bad we haven’t got a snitch so I couldn’t show you how wrong you are, Weasley.”

“A convenient excuse,” said Ginny dismissively. “I reckon my record speaks for itself.”

“Oh, speaking of Seekers, I meant to tell you earlier, did you hear about…” Ron then launched into some elaborate explanation about a recent surprise trade in Seekers between Puddlemere United and the Appleby Arrows that Hermione could not have been less interested in. She found herself instead paying attention to the little ways that Harry and Ginny were interacting with each other over the course of the meal.

They just seemed so _in tune_ with one another. Without speaking, Harry had split a piece of chicken as Ginny had split a kipper, each of them trading halves as Ron spoke. Harry poured Ginny a glass of pumpkin juice and another glass of water, as though he knew she drank both at every meal. As they ate and laughed at Ron’s wild theories of an inter-team conspiracy to undermine the Chudley Cannons, they never quite stopped touching. Ginny would lay a hand on Harry’s thigh, and he’d cover it with his own and give it a squeeze. Harry would lean into her playfully after he said something teasing. Ginny would rest her head on Harry’s shoulder every so often.

She couldn’t help but be a bit impressed with Ron’s perceptiveness. She hadn’t given it much thought, before, but he was entirely right. Ron and Lavender, while always engaged in some sort of physical embrace, had always had a bit of a superficial feel to them. There had really been no question that they would break up eventually, it had only been a matter of when. Harry and Ginny, on the other hand…

She watched them exchange a secret smile when Ron had busied himself with piling dessert on his plate, their eyes lingering, holding expressions of fondness that Hermione had never seen on Harry’s face before. Indeed, she’d never seen Ginny look at Michael or Dean that way, either. No, she thought, they were nothing like Ron and Lavender.

They soon began walking back toward Gryffindor Tower, Ginny and Harry’s hands carelessly intertwined, as Ron opined the fact that he likely wouldn’t be able to attend a Quidditch match this summer due to all of the wedding planning.

“Alright, alright, enough Quidditch talk or Hermione will kill us,” said Ginny. “Sorry Hermione, you must be bored to tears.”

Hermione chuckled. “It’s alright, it’s what I’ve grown to expect hanging around with you lot.”

“What did you do today?” asked Harry, turning to Hermione inquisitively.

“Oh, mostly –”

“Studying?” he supplied wryly.

She swatted at his shoulder as he laughed. “Shut it. Yes, of course I’m studying, exams are right around the—”

“Oh don’t remind me!” Ginny groaned, burying her face in Harry’s arm. “I’m so unprepared for the Arithmancy OWL. I don’t know why I let you talk me into taking that stupid subject.”

“Arithmancy is _interesting_ ,” she insisted. “And you’re much better at it than you think, if you just read the theory –”

“You’ve been saying that to me for years, Hermione,” said Ron. “And I think you’ve got to realize that you’re just smarter than the rest of us.”

“That is not true,” retorted Hermione, though she felt a bit warm at his compliment. “I just _apply myself_.”

“You sound like Mum,” said Ginny. “That’s all she’s written me in her last four letters, telling me I need to make sure I spend every free moment studying.”

Harry looked a bit guilty at this, and ran a hand through his hair.

“You’ve done a great job at that, Gin,” said Ron teasingly. “What were you studying today? Fresh-pickled toads?”

Harry grinned, while Ginny’s eyes shot daggers at them both. “No, in fact I was studying something far more _exciting_ , I can tell you all about it Ronald if you’re interested –”

“No!” shouted Ron, as Harry looked alarmed. “No, I don’t want to hear any of it.”

Hermione was still giggling as she muttered the password to the Fat Lady.

They found comfortable chairs by the fire, and began chatting about this and that, from Ginny’s upcoming OWL schedule, to Hagrid’s most recent failed cooking experiment that they’d had to pretend to enjoy. All the while, Ginny was wrapped comfortably in Harry’s arms, while Harry’s thumbs traced lightly on her forearms. She saw Harry drop a few kisses to Ginny’s head when he thought they weren’t paying attention, and the small squeezes Ginny would give him.

When it was getting late, Ginny yawned and announced she was going to bed. She got up, and Harry murmured something about walking her to the staircase. Ginny rolled her eyes, and said “He’s going to come snog me goodnight, give us a minute, would you?” and pulled an embarrassed looking Harry after her.

Hermione peeked over her shoulder to see Harry leaning against wall of the staircase, Ginny smiling up at him tenderly. When they started kissing deeply, she turned back around and looked at Ron, who was staring resolutely in the opposite direction, his ears red. She smirked.

Harry returned a few minutes later, his cheeks flushed. “Er, sorry about that, if it’s weird…”

“Nonsense,” said Hermione quickly, before Ron could say anything. “It’s sweet.”

Harry pulled a face at her choice in words, but did not comment.

“Harry,” she said suddenly, overcome by the feeling that had been building in her the whole night. “I’m really, really happy for you. We both are, me and Ron.”

Ron glanced at her, but then looked back at Harry and nodded his agreement.

Harry looked distinctly uncomfortable, but smiled. “Er, thanks Hermione.”

“I know you hate talking about it, but I just wanted to say, you seem really good together. And I just,” she was embarrassed to feel tears welling up in her eyes. She quickly wiped them away, as she knew Harry really hated it when she cried. “I’ve just never seen you this happy before. And I can’t think of anyone who deserves something good more than you.”

Harry looked awkward, but touched. “Yeah, I am. Happy, I mean. It’s…. nice. To have something good happen for once.”

Hermione wanted to say so many things just then. How much she cared for him, how proud she was of him for being able to be like this after experiencing so much loss and hardship, how good of a match she thought they were. But, being friends with boys for six years had taught her that they didn’t really like hearing things like that. So instead, she settled for, “Ginny seems happy, too.”

Harry chuckled uncomfortably, and said with a small hint of anxiety in his voice, “Well, I hope so.”

Ron surprised her by saying, “Come off it, mate, Ginny’s been waiting for this since she was ten. You can’t honestly be worried.”

Harry shrugged. “I dunno. Things with me are always going to be complicated, aren’t they?” He seemed to struggle for words for a moment before he said, “I sometimes worry that I’m doing the wrong thing, by being with her.”

“What do you mean?” asked Hermione quietly, studying the newly serious look on Harry’s face.

“People I love are always going to be in danger, aren’t they? Until Voldemort is gone,” he explained, running a weary hand over his face.

Ron flinched at the name, but Hermione was taken aback by the casual inclusion of Ginny in the category of people he loved, as though it were of no real significance. Hermione decided not to comment, and instead addressed the rest of what he’d said. “Well, yes, that does complicate things. But what’s the alternative, to shut yourself away and never let yourself care about anybody?”

Harry shrugged miserably.

Hermione wished he were closer so she could grip his arm. “Harry, you can’t always feel guilty for being happy.”

He laughed humorlessly. “Yes, well, it hasn’t stopped me, has it? And at this point, I don’t know if I _could_ go back.”

“No, you couldn’t,” said Ron, firmly. “If you did, I reckon Ginny would kill you before You-Know-Who.”

Harry laughed at that, and the mood lightened considerably. Hermione wanted to continue the conversation further, to assure Harry that he deserved this and it _was_ the right thing, but Harry had already changed the subject to Apparition and when he and Ron would be allowed to take the test over the summer. But Hermione saw that every so often, when there were lulls in the conversation, Harry’s eyes would glaze over slightly and he’d get a small smile on his face, as though his mind were entirely elsewhere.

As Hermione went to bed for the evening, it was with certainty that whatever was developing between Harry and Ginny was far deeper than she’d realized. She felt an odd pang, wishing that she and Ron could have what they had, before returning to her quiet joy that Harry, after all he’d been through these last few years, was so clearly and overwhelmingly happy. There had been a time when she wondered if he would ever be the same again, and to see him like this… well, she was quite proud of him, really.


End file.
